The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-07-27
A FRIGHTFUL DISASTER.
A Yacht With a Pleasure Party
on Board Capsizes.
A Large Number Of Women and
Children Drowned.

One man and not less than twenty-five wo-
men and children were drowned by the
capsizing of the sloop yacht Mystery, near
Canarsie, Long Island. The persons drowned
were part of an excursion party that had
been on days outing in the yachts Mystery
and Christina Most of the women and
children were put on board the Mystery on
the homeward trip, while the husbands and
fathers were Oh the Christina. The Mystery
was in command of Captain Hendrickson, as
sisted by Nicholas Scheidt: all the rest on
board were women and children. Henderson
was drowned and Scheidt was saved. A
vivid account of the terrible disaster is as
follows:
At the close of the afternoon preparation
began for q start, an early one, as the party
consisted so largely of women and children.
The Mystery was selected as the safest and
tirely from the ranks OF the women and chill
dren. The men were disposed of on the
Christina and the other boats. At6 o'clock
the start was made The fleet separated at
once. tine little boats taking channel that
the big ones could not use at that stage of
the tide. So the Mystery and the
Christina stood off toward Barren
Island, near which they could come about
and, clearing the tail of the Nova Scotia
Shoai, tack up the main channel to the
Canarsie landing The Mystery led, and the
women and children waved their handker-
chiefs to the husbands and fathers, and called
out:
"a race, a rare, we can beat you i'm
A race it was from that moment, though
race had not been intended. The Mystery,
under a reef, could not keep her lead, and it
was soon apparent that the Christina was
overhauling her. Capt. Hendrickson quickly
noted this and shook out his reefs. Some Of
the women were little timid about this, but
the Captain laughed as he said: 1--WE must
not let the men beat us in. If she goes over
we can have n swim.n Under full sail the
Mystery drew away from the Christina, and
had a good lead when she tackled to go up the
channel. Before she filled away on the other
tack sic got knock down, careening until
the water came into her cockpit, and then
more slowly until on her beam
ends. The women and children screamed
with terror, and some of the latter ran down
into the cabin to get away from the water
when it came aboard. But the next minute
it was pouring down the companionway, and
these, with others that had gone below be-
fore there was thought OF danger, were in
death trap.
Those on deck had some little chance for
their lives, as the swamped boat sank slowly,
and must have afforded support to those who
could cling to her for fifteen or twenty min
utes before sinking below the surface. By
Ghis time all in the cabin were dead, and
many of those who had struggled to
clutch the boat or some of its floating
rigging had been swept off by the tide
and carried under. Captain Hendrickson
went down after he had been once safe on the
upturned bottom of the boat He is believed
to have been trying to save some one and
to have been entanged in the rigging or
person.
The Christina all this time was about
200 feet away, and to those who looked on
from a greater distance the actions of her
crew were inexplicable. They seemed to
be making no effort to come up with
the distressed party, and suddenly took
in their sails. Captain James William
son says that an accident prevented
him from doing anything. Somehow his
to ho.d the boat on her course and drag the
hook. he could not do it. The shrouds finally
parted, and William Seaman, acting mate
and member Of the G. Y. c., cut the hall
iardS to get the strain off the Tast
at once. Two of the men on the Christina
were unable to stand this inactivity.
Their wives and children were struggling in
the wafer DeiOre tnelf eyes, ana Cney plunged
in and swan to their assistance. These men
were John Booth and Mr.. Schweizer. Whether
in consequence of their efforts or not the fact
is that MIS-. Booth, her daughter and sister.
and Mrs. Schweizer and one of her children,
were among the saved. The women declare
that they were saved by their husbands, and
the men were picked up almost exhausted by
the tug G.. c. Dean, when she arrived at the
scene of the disaster
Only one boat had reached there before the
tug, and that was the yawl of the schooner
Reaper, manned only by Andrew Robinson,
the colored cook aboard the schooner.
He is unquestionably the hero Of
the day. He fearlessly rowed into
the struggling mass of drowning peo-
pie, who might easily have swamped his
boat and dragged him down. After dragging
three into the boat lie found that she would
not hold any more, but helping four others to
hang Oh to the gunwales he kept them afloat
until the arrival of the tug G. C. Dean. The
latter vas not far away when the accident oc-
Cured, but had to steam around the tail OF
the shoal to reach the spot, and was nearly
half an hour in doing it. The rescues made
by the Dean and Robinson number eleven;
the lost are twenty-three or more.